When people let you down, it hurts. But feeling like God isn’t even on your side wounds so much deeper. Especially when you pour your heart out begging him to help and it seems as if He’s light years away.
We have to start from the right perspective. We must realize how small we are and how big God is. How short our time of existence compared to His eternity.
Psalm 90:2 (NLT)2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
2 Peter 3:8 (NLT)8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
Psalm 39:4 (NLT)4 “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.
Here is an example of how big God is compared to us. If the Milky Way galaxy were the size of the entire continent of North America, our solar system would fit in a coffee cup. That’s the size of our solar system in the Milky Way galaxy. Now consider that there are perhaps 100 billion galaxies in the universe. It would take 15 billion years to send a lightspeed message (100,000 miles per hour) to the edge of the universe.
Psalm 8:1-9 (NLT)1 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place--4 what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.6 You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority--7 the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals,8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.9 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
We must realize how small we are and how big God is, and how short our time of existence compared to eternity.
Psalm 90:2 (NLT)2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
2 Peter 3:8 (NLT)8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
Psalm 39:4 (NLT)4 “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.
We tend to rely on our own sufficiency and our own issues but we need to as best we can as humans, look at the relationship from God’s perspective.
Psalm 39:4 (HCSB)4 “LORD, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how short-lived I am.
Psalm 90:12 (HCSB)12 Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
James 4:13-14 (HCSB)13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”14 You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are ⌊like⌋ smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.
1 Peter 1:24 (HCSB)24 For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,
When Job was having his trouble he questioned some things too and he wanted God to answer him and he got this response;
Job 38:1-11 (HCSB)1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:2 Who is this who obscures ⌊My⌋ counsel with ignorant words?3 Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me.4 Where were you when I established the earth? Tell ⌊Me⌋, if you have understanding.5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?6 What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb,9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,10 when I determined its boundaries and put ⌊its⌋ bars and doors in place,11 when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here”?
He got the message
Job 40:3-5 (HCSB)3 Then Job answered the LORD:4 I am so insignificant. How can I answer You? I place my hand over my mouth.5 I have spoken once, and I will not reply; twice, but ⌊now⌋ I can add nothing.
With these things in mind we might want to consider:
Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
We are really not in control of the world God is. We are not really in control of our futures, God is. The only response to our problems or our condition is to be still and turn them over to God.
We have to realize who we really are in comparison to God in our relationship with Him. When we acknowledge that we are so very small we are in our imperfection, when compared to God who is perfect it establishes the right ground rules of how we relate to God. We have to admit that we are helpless. Human beings don’t ordinarily like to admit that we need help,
We have to level with God about bitterness over an unanswered prayer, grief, over loss, guilt over an unforgiving spirit, a baffling sense of God’s absence. If we don’t do that the relationship with God won’t go any further that a shallow relationship that we have with another person where that person is just a casual friend. With a casual friend we engage in small talk and don’t get too personal about our lives. If we do that we will only engage in formal prayers and never break through what Philip calls the intimacy barrier. We have to learn to trust God with what He already knows.
We have to start from the right perspective. We must realize how small we are and how big God is. How short our time of existence compared to His eternity.
Psalm 90:2 (NLT)2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
2 Peter 3:8 (NLT)8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
Psalm 39:4 (NLT)4 “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.
Here is an example of how big God is compared to us. If the Milky Way galaxy were the size of the entire continent of North America, our solar system would fit in a coffee cup. That’s the size of our solar system in the Milky Way galaxy. Now consider that there are perhaps 100 billion galaxies in the universe. It would take 15 billion years to send a lightspeed message (100,000 miles per hour) to the edge of the universe.
Psalm 8:1-9 (NLT)1 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place--4 what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.6 You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority--7 the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals,8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.9 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
We must realize how small we are and how big God is, and how short our time of existence compared to eternity.
Psalm 90:2 (NLT)2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
2 Peter 3:8 (NLT)8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
Psalm 39:4 (NLT)4 “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.
We tend to rely on our own sufficiency and our own issues but we need to as best we can as humans, look at the relationship from God’s perspective.
Psalm 39:4 (HCSB)4 “LORD, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how short-lived I am.
Psalm 90:12 (HCSB)12 Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
James 4:13-14 (HCSB)13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”14 You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are ⌊like⌋ smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.
1 Peter 1:24 (HCSB)24 For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,
When Job was having his trouble he questioned some things too and he wanted God to answer him and he got this response;
Job 38:1-11 (HCSB)1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:2 Who is this who obscures ⌊My⌋ counsel with ignorant words?3 Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me.4 Where were you when I established the earth? Tell ⌊Me⌋, if you have understanding.5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?6 What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb,9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,10 when I determined its boundaries and put ⌊its⌋ bars and doors in place,11 when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here”?
He got the message
Job 40:3-5 (HCSB)3 Then Job answered the LORD:4 I am so insignificant. How can I answer You? I place my hand over my mouth.5 I have spoken once, and I will not reply; twice, but ⌊now⌋ I can add nothing.
With these things in mind we might want to consider:
Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
We are really not in control of the world God is. We are not really in control of our futures, God is. The only response to our problems or our condition is to be still and turn them over to God.
We have to realize who we really are in comparison to God in our relationship with Him. When we acknowledge that we are so very small we are in our imperfection, when compared to God who is perfect it establishes the right ground rules of how we relate to God. We have to admit that we are helpless. Human beings don’t ordinarily like to admit that we need help,
We have to level with God about bitterness over an unanswered prayer, grief, over loss, guilt over an unforgiving spirit, a baffling sense of God’s absence. If we don’t do that the relationship with God won’t go any further that a shallow relationship that we have with another person where that person is just a casual friend. With a casual friend we engage in small talk and don’t get too personal about our lives. If we do that we will only engage in formal prayers and never break through what Philip calls the intimacy barrier. We have to learn to trust God with what He already knows.
A Prayer for When Things Don’t Go in Your Way
By Lori Freeland
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
It’s easy to blame God when life goes wrong. He can do anything. Stop anything. Change anything. But sometimes He doesn’t. People have free will. The world is full of death and disease and sin. Bad things happen to good people—even good Christian people.
God never promised I’d get what I want, that my days would be easy, that just because I chose to follow Him I wouldn’t suffer, or that He’d let me skip the bad parts of life. And that’s where disappointment comes in, hitting the hardest when I confuse what I think God owes me with what He actually told me:
He said I should give thanks. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV).
He said He understands my challenges. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:16)
He said I wouldn’t be crushed. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
He said I’d never be alone. “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar… You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways…You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me… Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139: 2,3,5,7,8).
When I look at these verses, I remember true peace always finds me when I give thanks in the worst of situations. I remember that I’m still here, still living, not destroyed, even when people and situations have tried to break me. I remember the times He walked me through the darkness of feeling alone and abandoned.
As my perspective changes, so does my disappointment. God’s purpose isn’t to wrap me in that bubble and keep me away from the harsh realities of the world, it’s to walk with me through them. His purpose is to refine my faith.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (I Peter 1:6,7).
If you’re hurting and you feel like God has let you down, don’t lose faith just yet. Not before you take an honest look at your disappointment. Just like it would be unfair of me to blame my boss for not giving me a promotion he never offered, it’s unfair to judge God’s love for us based on what we want Him to give us rather than what He wants to give.
Lord, Your ways aren’t our ways. It sounds so simple. I’ve memorized the verse. But help those words sink in. Show me Your perspective through Your eyes. Help me to see that while I’m a small part of the bigger picture You have planned, you love me and I’m part of Your purpose. Rather than blame You when things go wrong, help me to remember You’re the only one who’s right there beside me as I crawl through the fire. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
By Lori Freeland
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
It’s easy to blame God when life goes wrong. He can do anything. Stop anything. Change anything. But sometimes He doesn’t. People have free will. The world is full of death and disease and sin. Bad things happen to good people—even good Christian people.
God never promised I’d get what I want, that my days would be easy, that just because I chose to follow Him I wouldn’t suffer, or that He’d let me skip the bad parts of life. And that’s where disappointment comes in, hitting the hardest when I confuse what I think God owes me with what He actually told me:
He said I should give thanks. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV).
He said He understands my challenges. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:16)
He said I wouldn’t be crushed. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
He said I’d never be alone. “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar… You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways…You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me… Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139: 2,3,5,7,8).
When I look at these verses, I remember true peace always finds me when I give thanks in the worst of situations. I remember that I’m still here, still living, not destroyed, even when people and situations have tried to break me. I remember the times He walked me through the darkness of feeling alone and abandoned.
As my perspective changes, so does my disappointment. God’s purpose isn’t to wrap me in that bubble and keep me away from the harsh realities of the world, it’s to walk with me through them. His purpose is to refine my faith.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (I Peter 1:6,7).
If you’re hurting and you feel like God has let you down, don’t lose faith just yet. Not before you take an honest look at your disappointment. Just like it would be unfair of me to blame my boss for not giving me a promotion he never offered, it’s unfair to judge God’s love for us based on what we want Him to give us rather than what He wants to give.
Lord, Your ways aren’t our ways. It sounds so simple. I’ve memorized the verse. But help those words sink in. Show me Your perspective through Your eyes. Help me to see that while I’m a small part of the bigger picture You have planned, you love me and I’m part of Your purpose. Rather than blame You when things go wrong, help me to remember You’re the only one who’s right there beside me as I crawl through the fire. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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